Messages from Vancouver Public Schools in Vancouver, Washington, U.S.A.
Of all the lessons we teach our students, compassion may be one of the most difficult. How do you teach a child to care about another person? How do you know when the lesson has been learned?
Once again it's graduation season, and once again we say goodbye to our seniors. This year's graduating class is a remarkable group that includes four National Merit Scholars, two Washington Scholars, one Scholar Alternate, and 40 students who will…
You may not learn everything you need to know in kindergarten, but you certainly do learn a lot. That was the case for me a few weeks ago, when I visited Chinook Elementary.
In case I haven't yet told you, happy new year! In Vancouver Public Schools, 2014 is off to a terrific start. Earlier this month, students began applying for our secondary magnet programs, including the new Lewis and Clark High School, which is the…
It was a toy high chair that caught the mother's eye. She'd pedaled up the hill to King Elementary on her bicycle, her only means of transportation, to visit the school's holiday shop, where she spotted the high chair. Excitement streamed across her face.
In the last podcast, I talked about our strategic plan. As you've probably heard, we're looking ahead five years and refreshing Design II.
Graduation season is here, and once again the spotlight is on our seniors as they walk across the stage to receive their diplomas. Each graduate has accomplished a major milestone.
Graduation season is here, and once again the spotlight is on our seniors as they walk across the stage to receive their diplomas. Each graduate has accomplished a major milestone.
“Public education is under attack,” warned my friend Mark Edwards in his presentation to the 100+ attendees of our recent National School Boards Association (NSBA) technology site visit. Unfortunately, his comment was spot on. America's schools…
Spring is here: Daffodils are in bloom, the Mariners are about to take on the Oakland A's in the first game of the regular season, the Vancouver Farmers Market just started its 24th year, and the occasional blue sky reminds us that summer is only a few...
Each January we tend to think about our personal accomplishments of the past year. We look at what we might improve and make resolutions. Some we keep, some we don't, but at least we've made an effort. As educators, we also make resolutions about...
Sixth grade is a make-or-break year. According to research, most middle grade students develop their off-track indicators in sixth grade. Students who show indications of falling off the graduation path in the sixth grade have worse outcomes than...
I'd like to introduce you to Kianna Carter. She graduates from Lakes High School near Tacoma on June 18. Next fall, Kianna will attend Washington State University Vancouver. She plans to major in human development and then pursue a Master...
Hope springs eternal. Sounds like the epitaph for this year's Seattle Mariners who have struggled mightily over the past decade. Although there is no Bambino Curse on Safeco Field, I suspect we lifelong Mariner fans will suffer another long year...
The employees of Vancouver Public Schools constantly amaze me with their strong commitment to our mission and vision for students, staff, families, and community. I feel blessed to work with the greatest group of talented professionals I've experienced...
I've always considered wrestling a spirit-quest kind of sport. It has a deeply personal, introspective, and transcendental quality. It can, in its raw form, teach us something about our character and will. Stripped of all the trappings, it's you...
I'd like to introduce you to a group of personal “life coaches” in our schools. These men and women are LAP/Grad Advocates whose responsibilities include guiding a group of selected high school students to ensure they earn the right to dance...
This past month, Vancouver Public Schools hosted the second annual weLearn Technology Showcase. The event highlighted the ways in which our schools are transforming student learning through the use of 21st century technology. iPods, iPads, laptops...
What do Grey's Anatomy and Fort Vancouver High School have in common? The TV drama won an Emmy for a program featuring medical rounds. Fort Vancouver received a Washington State Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Award for its “Learnin
Working Together by David Whyte We shape our self to fit this world and by the world are shaped again. The visible and the invisible working together in common cause, to produce the miraculous. I am thinking of the way the intangible air passed a
As you know, Discovery and Jason Lee middle schools recently were designated Tier II schools. This designation makes the schools eligible for federally funded competitive School Improvement Grants (SIGs). Grants are being made available for 2010-2011. . .
I love to read. Those of us who are passionate readers probably have more books on our nightstands than we have time to read. That's my story. It's why I'm just getting to Doris Kearn Goodwin's A Team of Rivals. This biography of Abraham Lincoln…
Something changed for me when I became a parent. I now know the capacity of the human heart to love. I've been known to tell folks that parents don't give us their children, they don't give us their students— they give us their babies. I've witnessed…
A community mourns the loss of Gordon Patterson
The story of the “Prodigal Son” is familiar to many of us. In part, it's the story of a rebellious son who rejects his father's upbringing.
As most of you know, I occasionally schedule time to work in schools. I've had the privilege of edging fields at Anderson, installing water heaters at Gaiser, cleaning classrooms at Fort, painting bathrooms at Sacajawea, replacing door locks at Felida, an
This is a story about mentoring and modeling, caring and compassion, tears and joy. It's about the relationships formed between boys from Martin Luther King Elementary School and teens from Fort Vancouver High School.
I have always considered it a great blessing that my occupation and my vocation have coincided; that my professional life has been my calling. I have found inspiration in my concern for the welfare of children.
I often wonder what, if anything, will be remembered when it's all said and done, and kids are “finished” with school. I barely can remember last week, let alone what “standards” were taught in Mr. Caples' fourth period algebra class in 1977. When it come
For generations, children have walked to school, slogging through the wind and rain.
Superintendent shares a first day of school story
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